The Ex-book

Part I:

As the fable goes, at noon on the twenty first summer equinox of every century the sky glows in an blindingly bright cascade of sunlight, almost as if angels were descending from the sky. In anticipation of this, Julius left his house early and has spent all day in the park near his house. He brought with him his favorite orange soda and a small sleeve of cookies. He slouched into the bench, keeping a close eye on his watch every few minutes. “Eleven forty-two,” he grumbled to himself, breathing out a hefty sigh. “Can time pass any slower?”

11:48

11:56

11:59

“Ahhhh...” he moaned, “this tale better be true or all this boredom will be for nothing.”

As if on que, the moment the last word left his mouth, a nearby clock tower began chiming, signaling the twelfth hour. The sky shot pitch black for half of a second before exploding in a vivid bouquet of golden and white light. Julius was astounded, he never imagined this event would be quite this beautiful. The sky shined for only handful of seconds, yet to him it seemed like an eternity. “I wish...”

His word were cut off by an object colliding with his face before falling into his lap. Tilting his head down, he noticed a small, black notebook resting on his jeans. The front cover was adorned with reflective silver lettering that wrote The Ex-book. “The ex... book...” he mumbled, confused, “wonder what that means.” Julius only had two ex-partners. His first was his childhood friend, Tal, whom he dated in middle school for three months. They broke up when her father was relocated into a job in a city across the country.

His second ex, Sam, was recent. It had been only three weeks since they had broken up, and his heart still felt heavy from it. She was in a class below him, her being a junior, and him a senior in high school. After dating for nearly two years, she had the audacity to tell him that she was in love with a boy from her grade and ended their relationship on the spot.

Julius ran his thumb over the letters. They had a rough texture, almost as if they were carved into the cover to reveal the silver lining. He slowly opened the book, almost afraid to see what was inside. He carefully read the first page.

To find the value of this book, you must release the past. Settle your expectations with your past loves and understand how to let go. Never give into hate or you will lose all you have.

“Settle? What is there to settle? I know I wasn't good enough for either of them and that's that. What a load of crap!” He threw the book with as much force as he could towards a trash can. It rebounded of the edge of the can before soaring back and hitting him in the face again. “What!?” He tossed it again, only for the same outcome. Another sigh left his lips, “guess I'll have to do what this says. Not that I get it.”

Part II:

Julius had spent the last week prodding his own brain trying to come up with solutions. The only answer he could come up with was to lay in bed and give up. He has no contact information on Tal, and never wishes to see or speak to Sam again. In fact, he would be okay if she was dead. Bing-bong. His cellphone chimed that he received a message. He flung his arm towards where his phone was sitting and yanked the screen in front of him. It was a number he didn't recognize. Quickly his finger traced his pattern to unlock it and he read the message. “Hey Julius, it's Tal. I was just thinking of you, do you have a moment to talk?”

He rapidly sat up on his bed. Tal? The Tal? The timing seemed to perfect. “Uh... been a while. Yeah, I can talk.”

A reply came a few seconds later. “I miss you. I was so sad when I had to move.”

“Yeah... me too.”

“I'm thinking about coming back for a week in August. Think it would be okay to hang out?”

He read the message three times. For a moment he felt the feelings he used to have for her and kind of hoped maybe this was chance at getting back together. They had left things on friendly terms, and he still cared for her. Release the past. The words sounded like they were being spoken to him, causing him to look at the book. It was laying open to that first page, and those three words were glowing. He knew what he had to do. “Let's go to the diner near your old house.”

“Chuckles?”

“Yep. That's the one.”

“Sounds like a date!” Not the words he was expecting, nor the ones he wanted to hear. He knew he needed to set boundaries quickly.

“Not a date. Just two old friends getting closure. I hope that's okay.” He never got a response, that is what he expected though. He realized that if he allowed himself to get close to her during her visit he would fall victim to the same pain and trauma he went through all those years ago. This time, he hoped, he would walk away feeling at peace.

Part III:

The rest of July and first few days of August seemed to flash by quicker than any other time in his life. His emotions were a mix of anxiety from the new school term coming soon, and from his diner visit with Tal, which was now only four hours away. He had spent plenty of time preparing himself, writing thoughts and ideas on the blank pages in that mysterious notebook he received from the light that summer. He was ready to see her.

He parked his bike at the diner, making sure the lock was properly secured to the rack. He was fifteen minutes early, plenty of time to keep his nerves calm. Much to his surprise thought, Tal was already inside waiting for him. “JULIUS! OVER HERE!” Both her arms were waving frantically in the air.

“Hi Tal. You've grown,” came his reply, a small chuckle escaping his mouth.

“Psh, I was always this tall!” She had a slight whine to her voice, but her voice was confident.

“How's the east coast?”

“Wet. Rainy. Smells like sewers,” she complained. “Most of the people are nice though, and there is street food everywhere. It's really yummy!”

“Better than the food here?”

Tal laughed heartily, “much.”

They talked and ate at Chuckles Diner for a couple of hours, recounting old childhood memories and sharing stories of their lives after she had moved. The sun had begun to set before either of them had realized how long they had been gossiping. They both paid their bills and exited to the street corner in front of the diner.

Julius knew it was time for their final good-bye. “It's been great to hear from you Tal. I'm glad you've be able to make so many new friends in your new school. I was worried since you've always been a huge goof-ball.”

“Yeah, well, we all change, huh?” Her gaze was stuck on his face and he felt like she never wanted to let go again.

“We certainly do. It's comforting to know I don't have to worry about the past anymore now. I think we both have become better people than we used to be.”

“Think we will always be friends?”

“Yeah. Even if we don't talk all that often, I think we both know there is a bridge of support between our hearts.” He walked to his bike and began to unlock the chain. “Though, I also know you'll find new people to support you better than I ever could.”

A quiet moment of silence hovered between them.

“Thank you for dinner Julius. I knew this was good-bye coming here, but I... I..” tears began to fall down her face. “I never thought it would be this hard.”

“Me neither.” Those were his last words before he hopped onto his bike seat and peddled away. He too, was crying.

Part IV:

Julius felt exhausted. He didn't bother putting his bike away properly, just tossed it beside the garage and quickly dragged himself into his room. He noticed notebook was propped neatly against his pillow instead of on his desk where he thought he had left it. Open me. It called out to him again. He stared at it for a few minutes. Open me. He reached out and opened the book.

Inside the book he found twenty thousand dollars. “Holy....” he exclaimed, excited and shook. “Twenty grand? Maybe I really can go to college now!” Julius tossed the book back onto his bed and carefully counted the money a few more times. He rubbed the paper to make sure it was real money. He came to the conclusion it was.

He couldn't believe his luck. A strange book hits him in the face and led him to settle his own feelings he had refused to give up with his first love. Now that he is free from that pain, he is suddenly gifted enough money to acquire a decent education after high school. All that hard work and studying seems like it will finally be worth it.

Julius' thoughts drifted back to the description in the book. He had done what the book asked and was rewarded, but that was only one of his exes. “I wonder if I'll get another couple grand if I finish things with Sam too,” his voice trailed off into the book as his eye lids grew heavy. “Eh, I'll start thinking about that tomorrow.”

Julius let his eyes close and fell flat on his bed. A smile adorned his face as he drifted off into a peaceful slumber, his mind dreaming of what could be his future.